Hybrid tax credit bait and switch

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ Feb 6 2007, 09:44 AM) [snapback]386125[/snapback]</div>

If they claim to be a CFP (Certified Financial Planner), they've at least had some relevant education and passed a test. Scary thing is, I could probably pass the test and could probably can meet the education requirements.

I got my MBA from SCU. The person quoted, Ed McQuarrie, is in the marketing department. He doesn't teach accounting, let alone taxation. I took Slutsky for taxation. Seriously, that's her name.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Feb 6 2007, 02:02 PM) [snapback]386141[/snapback]</div>

Oh! Now I see why your presuming panties got in a bunch ~ but my critique was only directed to the Author of the article, not JimN

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusenvy @ Feb 6 2007, 03:04 PM) [snapback]386177[/snapback]</div>

And slutsky? Wow, that is unusual.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ Feb 6 2007, 03:22 PM) [snapback]386188[/snapback]</div>

Whoops. Sorry about that. I thought you were criticizing the prior post.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Feb 6 2007, 03:24 PM) [snapback]386192[/snapback]</div>

Whoops accepted with the best regards!

 

Brooke,

If your tax lady did not have or know about forms 8910 and 6251 then you visited someone Hill is warning against. 8910 has been available for a week now. If these forms were completed then your result is probably accurate.

With that being said, were other scenarios considered that could possibly have allowed the credit to be used to reduce the tax further? By no means am I suggesting that anyone do anything illegal.

 

Everyone needs to pay their fair due. I qualified for the full credit no problem, no need to worry about the AMT.

If you're deducting 10's of thousands of dollars maybe you should be paying your fair share too? It's still amazing that having kids (a massive burden to the system, education, infastructure etc...) gets you a deduction. It should get you an additional tax IMHO. That way you people with 9 kids could get your full Hybrid credit.

 

MegansPrius,

Thank you for the support. It's good to have friends here. I suspect that in a hockey game you'd get the penalty for third man in.

Hill,

No offense taken. I get so infuriated with some of the posts that I have to edit my replies.

Everyone,

The bottom line is that you have to learn who to trust for various types of advice. Just because I can hold a wrench and spell "mechanic" on my sign doesn't mean you want me to rebuild your engine. Be wary of the accountant whose office is at the dry cleaner's. Those initials might mean Cleaning, Pressing & Alterations.

 

Thanks for the info JimN. DH went back to the tax lady and gave her the information you gave me. It still didn't cut it. So we get 0.00 back. Oh well.

I do have to say though for the person who posted about people paying their fair share. YIKES. A tad bit rude I must say. My wonderful husband works his fingers to the bone (bloody knuckles and all - he is a heavy duty diesel mechanic - 2 cert. away from being a "master") and HE supports our "burdens to the systems". Yeah, HE does. The gov. SHOULD give us back some of what we pay in. We weren't told that there were any reasons we wouldn't get a credit. If the government wasn't so darned shifty, they would just come out and say hey, you may or may not get this credit, check with your tax person. And FYI, apparently you are not either aware of what a prius looks like, or are just horrible at math. The statement of "you people with 9 kids" bit is unrealistic. If we had 9 kids how in the world would we get them in a Prius???? Idiot.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Feb 6 2007, 07:02 PM) [snapback]386517[/snapback]</div>

For instance, to the best of my knowledge, IRS doesn't REQUIRE you to take all eligible deductions. If you're on the borderline of AMT perhaps ignoring a small deduction may opt you out of AMT and thereby qualify you for the tax credit, and improve your overall refund.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jboaa @ Feb 10 2007, 10:42 AM) [snapback]388023[/snapback]</div>

The same way everyone fits in the clown car at the circus? :blink:

 

What frustrates me the most is that the dealers tout that you'll be getting the credit as if it's a refund. After checking one of the IRS links, I think it makes more sense how the credit will work. Even my mom learned something new, and she's supposed to work on getting her CPA this year (she's been a practicing accountant/real estate broker for almost 30 years and learned something new).

But on the flip side, at least I got my carpool stickers, so I'm still happy. B)

 

What frustrates me the most is that the dealers tout that you'll be getting the credit as if it's a refund.


Honestly, that is what frustrated us the most. We were really looking forward to taking that 3150.00 and putting it towards paying off the car.
After calling the dealer and making him aware of this, we got the ole stand by " this is the first I have heard of it".
I know though, that the main point for us was to drive something better for the environment, and that got better gas mileage. The Prius does that, the tax credit was just icing on the cake. We still love our car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sl7vk @ Feb 6 2007, 10:08 PM) [snapback]386522[/snapback]</div>

So those of us like myself and my wife, who had credits for $350 for insulating our house (thus saving energy & enhancing the infrastructure...) and $250 for educational expenses (tuition and fees for the prolonged end of a PhD thesis) should have to get less of a credit than those who didn't pay for their education or for environmentally responsible house improvements? Oh, and we have one child, which also reduces our credit for the Prius (but that's okay, because that child is a massive burden on the system, at the age of 3 months...). Except for those credits, we would have actually gotten ~$800 back on the Prius, even with the AMT calculations. With them, we get $0.

Let's add in the various deductions that got us screwed by the AMT, including the local and state taxes we paid (because those are obviously a drain on the system...), the mortgage interest paid (because owning a house is bad for the system...), and the employee business-related deductions including multiple scientific conferences, personal purchases of material for various classes taught at college level and non-credit based programs (not covered by the K-12 educator deductions), and my wife's financial expenditures for her research. Those are all definitely reasons for not getting the full credit (actually, not getting any credit, in our case).

So, exactly what have you done to support the system, sl7vk, other than buy a Prius? What makes you more fit to get the credit? You seem happy enough to rail against others with their burdensome children, but what, other than your level of sub-AMT income, makes you more fit to get back this credit that was, until recently, thought to be something that everyone would get for being foresighted enough to actually shell out extra money for a car that conserves natural resources that everyone else is busy doing their level best to use up.

So, yeah, I'm pissed that I didn't get the credit. I think it was a bait and switch and I'm a bit peeved by it. It doesn't help that it's our second Prius and I got more back from the first one, where all we got was a $2000 deduction (back in 2005).

Keith

 

Just did my taxes and I ended up getting about $2400 out the $3150 credit that the dealership promised when I bought the car. From reading other people's posts, I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I'm happy with the $2400, but I wish the government would spell things out in black and white, not create all these loopholes and exceptions and not tell anyone about it. According to the fueleconomy.gov website, I met all the criteria for a $3150 credit. But a $3150 credit I did not get. Well I guess that's just the nature of our government, you can't really trust a damn thing they say.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jboaa @ Feb 6 2007, 11:02 AM) [snapback]386142[/snapback]</div>

Hi Brooke

Your tax lady is (unfortunately) correct. People are using the AMT term incorrectly here. The relevant term, in IRS-ese, is TMT (Tentative Minimum Tax). That's the IRS' way to sting you even if you don't owe AMT. You see, the TMT is the calculated figure from Form 6251, Line 33 (AMT) that is used to compare to your actual tax from your 1040 (Line 44). The *huge* misunderstanding that most people have had with this is that even you aren't subject to AMT, you get your $3,150 reduced anyway to the amount of the spread between Line 44 (1040) and the Line 33 (Form 6251). It is super confusing and even more infuriating given that Toyota dealers were more than happy to quote the $3,150 in the showroom. But, now they're quietly saying "Wow! You're the first person who has run into this problem" to every pissed off owner.

Yes, it sucks. Big time. My $3,150 got shaved to $554. Ouch. That'll leave a mark. :angry:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(szannes0 @ Feb 15 2007, 03:28 PM) [snapback]391016[/snapback]</div>

You're so right. My $5750 (Prius and HyCamry in 2006) got shaved to...zero. Oh, well; that's not why my wife and I bought 'em.

rpm

 

I got the full tax credit for my '07 Prius.

I'm not gaming the system with a big mortgage deduction, or any other tax deductions or credits.

The biggest tax game out there is someone buying a McMansion, and having the rest of us help pay for it.

Harry

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sl7vk @ Feb 6 2007, 10:08 PM) [snapback]386522[/snapback]</div>

Wow. So. It was okay when YOU were a "massive burden to the system, education, infastructure etc..."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jboaa @ Feb 12 2007, 01:10 PM) [snapback]388958[/snapback]</div>

Was this an interpretation? If they said "refund" then you have a point - they were at the very least incorrect, at the worse, misleading and lying. If they said "credit", then they're on solid ground. If you interpreted credit=refund, you can't blame the dealers (I know, defending a dealer does not come naturally to me, either) for not informing you of the tax laws - they sell cars. It's really a case of "caveat emptor" - I have learned this way too many times to not question and clarify things for myself.

I know that's not very comforting, so take comfort in all the other great things about owning a Prius! B)

 

I say again you are not required to take all deductions, thereby opting you out of AMT. Perhaps if you would 'play' with the numbers which you can legally play with (not income, but deductions) you may be eligible for the fuller tax credit. My neighbor did this and went from a refund of $7000 to a refund of $10000. Taxes are an art, not a science. Jim N care to either support or deny my post?